Cause and Effect
by weatheredtome
Summary: Every action has a consequence; play with fire and you'll eventually get burned. DantexNero, rated M for violence, language, and of course slash
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything to do with the Devil May Cry series nor its characters (damn you, Capcom! Tee-hee, just kidding ^_^). It'd be pretty evident if I did though, there would be secret optional endings revolving around hot mansex :).

**A/N: **Hello fellow DMC fans! It's been a while, hasn't it? Yep, I've been on hiatus for a while but now I just don't feel like finishing _It's Complicated_. I have bigger fish to fry now –oh wait, is that the wrong expression? Anyway, the story was poorly written, had no plot, and just over all was a big letdown to me (and for some reason it's my most popular. Sigh). This, however, is my new baby. I've gained some new writing skills -even though I'm still not very good- it's a major improvement and I can confidently say that I want see this story to the end. Oh, and most importantly, this story was loosely inspired by bitbyboth's _Tick Tock_. Which is an immensely awesome story, by the way.

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**Chapter 1: We All Make Mistakes…Some Are Just a Little Bigger**

Nero glanced over at his partner from the passenger seat inquisitively. The male in question was cursing to himself…Not about the brash-mouthed young man, but about himself for once. Or to be more accurate, about a costly mistake he'd made on their latest mission. Nero chuckled at the sudden turn of events, earning a death glare in return. "C'mon, Dante, we'll find a way to change you back. In the meantime though, we need to find you something to wear. I think my close my clothes might be a little too big for you." he jested with a soft laugh, nudging the other in the arm.

"Like I care, a hobo has a better sense of style than you do." He retorted defensively, looking into the rearview and seeing his reflection stare back at him. The image in the mirror was not that of a thirty-three year old man, but that of someone barely out of their teens. He inwardly growled, wanting to rip the mirror from the windshield. A few days ago, they'd gotten a call for a simple extermination gig. The customers were a team of well-known archeologists, whom reportedly had been excavating outside a remote town well over two-thousand miles away…A two day trip by car, non-stop.

***HOURS AGO***

They'd been walking for hours in the direction their clients said the demons had been coming from. Nero drew a heavy sigh, stopping to stretch his tired legs. The other hunter halted to a stop, smirking in his usual fashion "What's the matter, kid? Tired already?"

Nero huffed at the playful tease "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

Dante threw an arm around the younger, kissing his neck "I can wear you out more, if you'd like."

He pushed him off, shaking a blush from his pale cheeks "Cut it out, Dante. We're _supposed_ to be working." He irately ran his fingers through his hair, looking at the sky through the old mossy trees "Hell, how do we even know the demons even came from here?"

Dante pointed to the Devil Bringer matter-of-factly, "That's a start."

Nero looked down at his glowing hand, feeling oblivious. Since it was attached to him and all, anyway.

"You'd think there'd be a vibrate function on that thing." The elder said just as a dirty thought crept into his head. "That'd be kinda kinky. Hey, kid, do you think-"

He crinkled his nose, harshly shoving the Bringer in his very perverted lover's face. "Keep dreaming. And stop calling me 'kid' when you're saying that crap. It's creepy."

"Okay then, how about..." a red rose appeared in between his lips out of nowhere, but had been undoubtedly conjured up by Lucifer. He tucked it into Nero's pallid hair and slid his fingers along the younger's jaw line to his chin "Amor?"

Nero glared, "Cut the crap before you really piss me off. No one's gonna notice if you go missing."

"Well, damn!" Dante couldn't help but grin before feigning a hurt look "and here I thought I was your everything."

Nero blushed, because in truth, he was. He grew accustomed to the hordes of demons he'd fought during the ordeal in his hometown. Afterward, he found it a little too peaceful for his new found love for demon slaying. So much so that he eventually went to stay with Dante, following him around him around like a lost puppy. He couldn't help it, Dante paid so much more attention than his would-be girlfriend, who'd stayed so busy with her new church duties that Nero never got to see her. He'd spent so much time with the elder that he had unconsciously developed a crush on him. Originally, he was just going to stay with Dante for a few weeks, hoping that when he returned his relationship with Kyrie would be renewed. Nothing had changed and Nero felt that she didn't even notice his absence. It later came apparent to him that they were in different places, and in effect left Fortuna again. A few days after returning to Devil May Cry his feelings of desertion began to dissipate once again, and eventually –with the help of Dante's relentless flirting and teasing- became what they are today.

"Out of insults already?" the elder grinned, raising an eyebrow.

He whipped out Blue Rose, placing the tip of her barrel to the other's nose "Don't tempt me."

Dante threw up his hands in surrender, laughing slightly "Oh okay, I can take a hint."

"Took ya long enough." He shook his head, holstering his revolver before walking again.

"I wish I had a camera." The elder stated, placing his hands behind the back of his head.

Nero had tried to ignore him, knowing he was just going to say something to piss him off. It became increasingly difficult after a few moments due to Dante's constant snickering, and the fact that he periodically felt the man's eyes on him. The young man glared, clenching his fists slightly "Okay, fine you win! What's so funny?"

"I was just thinking about how adorable it is when you try to act macho. Especially when you look so beautiful…" he informed, pretending to hold up a camera "those intense eyes that scream murder, the bright flush of your cheeks caused by frustration, and the most fetching... a crimson flower tucked into your soft, lovely locks."

The younger's blush deepened as he realized that Dante had in fact stuck a flower behind his ear and forgot about it. He reflexively grabbed it and threw it at the man "Shut it, Dante. I'll seriously shoot you."

Dante shrugged "Like that would hurt-" he paused as his stomach growled angrily. "Hey, kid, what'd ya say about a little bet. If I kill more demons than you, you have to buy me lunch. Deal?"

"Fine," he sighed, giving a roll of his eyes for effect "you're on."

"You're never gonna beat me with an attitude like that!" He flashed a smirk just before swiftly dashing off ahead.

"Cheater!" He yelled, running as quickly as his feet would carry him.

Dante laughed and called back "It's not cheating if there're no rules!"

Nero helplessly watched as Dante disappeared, leaving him behind to 'eat his dust'. He slowed down slightly, there was no way he could catch up with him and there wouldn't be a point in tuckering himself out before the fight. But then again, he hated losing to Dante. Mostly because the man had some twisted love for irritating him. Nero glared, there was no way he was gonna give in so easy –he'd beat him even with the head start! By the time he got there, the battlefield was already riddled with demonic casualties and Dante was having a ball.

"It's not opposite day!" he chimed gleefully, slashing through the tough skin of his newest victim "Kill somethin', kid!"

He rolled his eyes, revving Red Queen's engine before dashing to the other side of the vast clearing. He cut his way through several various kinds of foes, many of which he'd never encountered before. Nero stopped suddenly before reaching his destination, his Bringer going crazy as he stared at the mammoth coal-colored fountain planted smack dab in the middle of their battlefield. It was very elaborate, the sharp spikes on it gave it an ominous, almost pure evil look.

"We're not sightseeing, kid!" Dante called cockily, appearing to be paying no mind to the young man as he finished off another three.

Nero blinked to snap himself out of his memorization just in time to block an attack from a demon, it appeared to be no more than a large stuffed toy, similar to the Scarecrows he'd fought before. He remembered Dante saying it was something like a Bloody Mari, and they usually came in packs. Just as he knocked it back with his sword, another one rushed him, slicing upward with its scythe and barely missing him. He swung Red Queen up it and knocked it straight up in the air and used his Bringer to snatch up the other one, slicing it down the middle before the first one came down from the heavens. He grabbed it again, slamming it face first into the ground until purple mist erupted from it and it ceased its struggle.

Dante threw Rebellion through the air like a boomerang and began tearing up a demon, he falsely yawned and checked the time on an invisible watch. Three gunshots rang through the air just before the demon fell limp and Dante's weapon came flying back at him, he glared as he caught his weapon.

"No rules, right? I'm running low over here!" Nero taunted as he sliced and diced another two, they disappeared into an ash. He barely caught the satisfying glower on his lover's face before a burst of lightening burst through the air above him. He shielded himself with his Bringer as the long electrified claws of a Blitz manifested from out of nowhere. He made quick work of the first round, beginning to feel the fatigue of the armada of enemies he'd already slain. It darted from all around, pushing Nero closer to the fountain. His weapon was suddenly knocked from his hand as the Blitz grabbed him from behind and lifted him into the air. The all too familiar pain of the crimson electricity pulsed through his body as he struggled, it started to involuntarily shake. It was going to explode. Just as he pulled his revolver from the holster, he was dropped to the ground. He caught a glimpse of Dante's red coat before he and the demon disappeared underwater. The Blitz exploded, sending the murky water straight into the air. Nero's breath caught as he jumped to his feet, afraid to step forward. The water stilled, the young hunter's heart began to pound in his chest "Dante?"

He surfaced, coughing the water from his lungs as he climbed out of the fountain. "Is it just me or is leather not supposed to expand when it gets wet?" He asked, pulling his pants up around his hips before noticing Nero's incredulous stare. "What's-" he paused, something wasn't right. He looked _up_ at Nero as he stepped in front of him. He turned around in disbelief and glanced down at the water's reflection. His adolescent form stared back.

Nero poked Dante, still unable to utter a word.

"Don't do that!" he shouted, his voice mirrored his body as well. He smacked his own head, "Seriously?"

"…Are you okay, Dante?" Nero asked, staring down at his lover as he teen flailed about.

"Do I look like I'm alright?" he snapped, pissed off beyond reasoning with.

Nero stood quietly until Dante turned and faced him. He was now two inches shorter than him, the sight of a _little_ Dante made Nero want to laugh, especially while he stomped around cussing at the fountain for 'shrinking him.'.

"God…" he muttered, looking down his pants in disappointment "I haven't looked like this since I was eighteen…"

Nero snapped back to reality when Dante cut the car's loud engine and slammed the door. He tried to hide the grin on his face, trailing the other as they entered the office.

The girls were laying on the couch together, appearing to be bored out of their minds. Lady was the first to turn around "It's about time-" she stopped midsentence, stunned at the sight of the white-haired teen struggling to hold up the leather pants on his hips "What the hell happened to you?"

Trish sat up, placing a hand over her mouth in shock "Dante?"

"Go ahead and laugh. This little bastard wouldn't shut the fuck up the whole way home." He glared, pointing behind him toward his counterpart.

Nero smiled ear-to-ear, unable to repress it anymore "What? All I said was that no one's gonna sell you alcohol now."

"-And once again neither can you, motherfucker."

Lady stood right in front of him, scrutinizing him as he shrugged off his now over-sized coat "Well?"

"The demons were nested in the forest," Nero said, crossing his arms "there was this giant fountain in the clearing and Dante fell into it."

The girls raised their eyebrows in disbelief. Dante turned around waving his hand in dismissal before climbing the staircase "I'm goin' to sleep. Kid, if the phone rings, get it."

"I think it was mid-gothic period. What's funny about it is that it wasn't manmade. I could definitely feel demonic presence." Nero looked at Trish.

She gave a slight shrug, eyebrow still raised in skepticism "Why would a demon want to create something like that?"

Lady nudged Nero's arm "-and where did you say it was again?"

"Don't even think about it, Lady. I got a really bad vibe from it. Like whoever made it had malicious intent." The half demon warned, turning his attention to the empty staircase in concern.

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I found a folder containing bits and pieces of the chapter and decided to go ahead and post it, I don't think that it really conveyed the point I wanted to make for the first chapter; they fucking around by having a little contest instead of actually paying attention and it ended up costing Dante. I'll probably eventually go back and fix it, I just really wanted to post it because I started this over a year ago I think. Reviews are loved BTW ^_^


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything to do with the Devil May Cry series nor its characters (damn you, Capcom! Tee-hee, just kidding ^_^). It'd be pretty evident if I did though, there would be secret optional endings revolving around hot mansex :).

**A/N:** IMPORTANT! From this point forward, unless otherwise mentioned, Dante is now referred as the younger and the shorter of the two.

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**Chapter 2: Beginning Anew**

The afternoon sun filtered brightly in through the curtains, shining directly into the young hunter's eyes and causing him to stir slightly. He rolled sluggishly rolled onto his stomach and shoved his face into his pillow, trying in earnest to let slumber keep him prisoner for at least another hour or so. But it proved to be all in vain as he felt Nero shifting around, most likely to tell him to get up. He sighed in replace of his usual long yawn.

"Hey, kid, I had the worst-" Dante began to tell Nero of the dreadful nightmare he'd had, pausing abruptly as he realized something in his voice was amiss. He sat up swiftly in alarm. He was still eighteen. He let himself fall back against the bed in frustration that it was in fact not a horribly gruesome nightmare about falling into some stupid _Fountain of Youth_. Only this sort of thing would happen at Devil May Cry, he convinced himself.

Nero rolled over, still groggy from his restless night, and tossed an arm around his lover's chest. His face twisted distastefully for a moment before drowsily opening his eyes. His reaction was a little more… lively.

Before the teen could turn his head to his partner, he heard the older boy audibly yelp and somehow managed to fling himself off the bed, resulting in a relatively loud thump sound. Dante sat up to see Nero double over with both hands on the back of his head, cursing himself and the nightstand that injured his head. The younger hunter laughed out loud "You too, huh?"

Nero glared Rebellions(1) at him, he slowly crawled back onto the bed "Yeah," he nodded, reclaiming his seat next to Dante "I usually have dreams about you turning into a giant pussy but I never thought that it'd happen."

The 'pussy' fought the urge to punch him, smirking instead "What can I say? I've always aspired to be exactly like you."

"Shut up, shorty." He chuckled, laying back onto the bed.

"Or what?" Dante purred suddenly, teasingly stroking Nero's bare chest.

The older boy flinched, smacking his hand each time it advanced toward him "Hey quit that, it's weird."

"Aw someone fell off the wrong side of the bed this morning." He mocked as he found a way between Nero's legs and leaned over him.

He quickly blocked the unwanted advances with his bringer "What the hell…Dante?" he hesitated saying his lover's name, as if the boy over him were someone else.

"Aw, come on, kid, it's been days and I'm horny." He stated shamelessly, tugging at the other's boxer briefs as he attempted to kiss him.

"Nah-uh," Nero said swiftly, easily throwing Dante off and letting him fall on the floor (and hit his head) just as he himself had done only minutes before. "you're cut off 'till we figure out how to change you back."

Dante remained on the floor as he rubbed the back of his head in earnest "Seriously? What for?"

The bedroom door opened suddenly, Lady's curvy figure emerged with crossed arms from the shadows in time to witness the dispute between the two young men. "Lemme guess, the impossibly loud and concentration breaking noise coming from in here is Dante?"

"Find something to wear, Dante. We'll be downstairs trying to figure out what happened to you." Nero said as he stood, offering his bringer to the younger male.

"Sounds good." he said, taking the other's hand and pulling himself to his feet. He rubbed the back of his head again, trying to lull the ache in his cranium "Damn that really hurt."

"Shouldn't have laughed at me, asshat." Nero chuckled, before following Lady downstairs.

"Now what've I ever done to deserve this." He said lightly with a sigh. He glanced around his room briefly as he tapped his bare foot against the cold floor. "If I were my old clothes, where would I put me?" he muttered thoughtfully to himself, standing there for another good minute. After a long mental debate, the hunter shrugged and simply began to dig through his closet. He never really imagined he'd ever thank himself for being too lazy to throw anything away, but he would certainly be doing it today. He held up a raggedy old pair of black cargos to inspect them. They had a few small moth holes and were majorly wrinkly from being trapped at the bottom of his closet for at least a decade but he figured those were the least of his problems.

He tossed them at the foot of his bed and immediately regretted it as an impossible amount of dust flew up into the air. "Great." He mumbled sarcastically, waving his arms around in attempt to clear some of it. Seeing that it was only making it worse, he braved the massive dust cloud of allergen educing evilness and hastily moved to open his window.

He ran his fingers irately through his pallid locks before turning to his right to hunt through his dresser drawers for a shirt. Before long, he began sneezing and coughing causing him to end his search early and just grabbed one of Nero's. With clothes in hand, the young hunter made his way downstairs to shower and instantly gained amused looks from his comrades.

"Is that…dust?" Nero stifled a laugh, he met him at the door and ran his fingers through his boyfriend's dirty hair inquisitively.

In the blink of an eye, Dante's hand whipped out and smack Nero's forehead "Mosquito." He lied, contentedly walking passed his tormenting lover to his destination.

The older boy shook his head and rejoined the girls in their search through old books for information on Dante's little… setback. "So this is really what Dante looked like when he was young, huh." He asked in the form of a statement, slumping slightly as he sat in Dante's chair.

Lady looked up from the book in her lap, she and Dante went back a long ways, knowing him longer than any other person on Earth. "Yeah, I mean, he's not nearly as annoying, even though that in itself isn't saying much."

Trish smirked, crossing her legs as a table of sorts to rest her head in her palm "What's the matter, Nero? Not finding Dante attractive anymore?"

He scowled at the tease, chewing at the inside of his mouth as he thought about it "No, I mean he's cute, I jus-"

The girls giggled in unison, making the twenty-year-old uncomfortable, Lady poked at his leg "Aw, someone has a boy crush!"

"Come on," he said lengthily, putting the book in his hand on the desk "can you take me serious for just a minute please?"

"I can spare a minute." The brunette teased, hands politely placed in her lap.

"Thanks." He said, for what it was worth. He raked his claws through his hair "I still love him, it's just that this Dante isn't _the_ Dante that I fell for, ya know? I feel like it's not him even though I know it is."

"Don't worry, sweetie," Trish said, rubbing his back consolingly "you'll warm up to him."

"That's just it, I don't want to. I want my Dante." The male continued, ignoring Lady making comments about him wanting to have 'girltalk'.

"It's not like I did this on purpose, kid." The younger hunter said with irritation laced in his tone, leaning against the bathroom door in a defensive fashion with jeans hanging loosely on his strong hips.

Nero winced at the grimace plastered on the younger hunter's face. It was his fault after all, he had gotten so caught up in trying to beat Dante in the slaughterfest that he had exhausted himself and nearly got them killed. Nero sat up in the chair, mouth slightly agape "Dante-"

"Can I borrow this?" he interrupted, not caring enough to hear his apologies, as sincere as they may have been. Averting his azure eyes as soon as Nero nodded, the teen pulled the white beater over his head.

Lady pursed her lips at the awkward tension the two males were creating; she drew a heavy sigh and lightly said "Great, now we have two brooding hormonal brats to deal with."

"Ah shut your face." The shorter male said as he walked to the desk, turning his attention back to Nero "Find anything interesting?"

The latter shook his head in defeat "No, we even checked that joke book you have; _Overly Elaborately Ridiculous Demonic Traps of All Time That Always Fail _just to see if we could find some ideas. Still nothing."

Dante nodded slowly, chewing on his bottom lip as he thought. He had been so caught up in kicking Nero's ass at demon-slaying he never got a good look at it. Even afterwards he was so pissed all he wanted to do was go home and sleep "Well, what can you tell us about it?"

"I dunno, the whole thing was kind of weird. I felt captivated toward it, like I wanted to touch it even though I knew it was demonic and something bad would probably come of it." He sighed, not knowing what else to tell them about it. "…Why the hell would a demon want to build something like that? They don't need it, so what's the purpose?"

Lady nodded, tapping her chin with her index finger "Yeah, demons are immortal. Hey what about you guys?"

They looked at her inquisitively, Dante being the first to pipe up, as usual "At this rate I'll probably never find out. What's it to you?"

She rolled her two-toned eyes at his slow thought process "You two are half human and if you aren't immortal, maybe the demon that made it is too and made it to keep their human side young."

"That makes perfect sense! Except one thing doll, we don't know if we are or not. The kid here is only the third half human demon I've ever met, myself being one of them." He said, omitting from mentioning the third person; his deceased brother, Vergil.

Trish caught Nero opening his mouth, an inquisitive look plastered on his face, she knew he didn't think sometimes and he was about to piss Dante off. The blonde said the first thing that came to thought "-So why are you still calling him _kid_? Aren't you the same age now?"

"And? I'm still me under here so he's still a kid. Speaking of which, why are you in my seat-" he said, turning his attention back to Nero who was currently gripping the bottom of the seat as hard as he was able to prevent the former from being able to reclaim his seat.

"I was here first!" Nero called out as Dante tried shoving him off.

He sat in his lap, trying to pry his fingers and claws from their death grip "First you won't let me fuck you and now you steal my chair?" he barked "Get up!"

"No!" Nero bucked his hips up to try and knock Dante off. He gave a mortified paused as he heard an unfamiliar female voice clear her throat, as to get their attention. The male reflexively grabbed the younger's wrists to restrain him, which to his surprise –and satisfaction- was all too easy.

"Um Excuse me, this sign outside said this was Devil May Cry." A middle aged woman stated, she was frail and almost sickly, a framed picture was clutched firmly in her arms.

Trish stood up, offering an apologetic smile "Yes, it is, please come in."

"Yeah, sorry it's not always a zoo in here." Lady said, crossing her arms and cocking her head accusatively at the two quarrelers.

"Are you Dante?" the woman asked Nero meekly as she walked up to the desk, still holding tightly onto the picture.

He barely muffled a snicker, as he finally shoved Dante off his lap "He is, I'm just a seat warmer."

"It's warm now thank you," Dante half whispered "Now get up, I'm working."

"Finally." Lady flashed a catlike smirk.

"Now what can I do for ya?" the owner asked as he took his seat.

"I'm Mrs. Jones." the woman handed him the photograph "It's my daughter, Kinsley; she's gone missing."

"Look lady, we're not a lost and found. You're gonna have to gimme a little more than that." He said nonchalantly.

"Yes, there's more to it than that, she went to work for Sailor's Delight, a cruise ship escort service." She said quietly, pulling a tissue to her teary eyes.

Dante looked at the young figure behind the glass in his hands. She was small, her large green eyes were filled with innocence. He had a feeling there was much more to it than what she'd just told him…or at least hoping. "Hard to believe a sweet looking girl like your kid here would choose that kind of _profession_."

She paused for a long moment, the short conversation was clearly taking a toll on her emotions. The fine lines on her forehead deepened and disappeared each time she knitted her eyebrows as she spoke "She went with her best friend, they've been inseparable since they were young. When Jessica told her how she'd heard that their escorts lived like royalty there and that she wanted to work for them, Kinsley went with her without giving it a second thought." The woman stifled a sob "I received one call from her two days ago, she said she thought her life was in danger, the escorts there disappear after a few weeks. The owner told her not to worry about it and she said the woman was strangely cold, like she had something to do with it. Kinsley swore the owner is one of those devils. I haven't heard from her since-" the mother sobbed, the fear of her child's life in danger being too much for her to contain herself any longer.

"Hm," Dante sat in contemplation as the weighty feel of his friends staring at him in anticipation seemed to slow his final decision. "We're not cheap." he handed the photo back to her "Do you know where her friend got that information on it?"

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(1) In every game Dante gets stabbed with his own sword, that being said, instead of daggers Nero stared Rebellions at Dante for laughing at him.

After typing a few modifications to chapter one, only to realize my last source of internet is gone (I was using wifi and lost it, and now dial up won't even work.). In my despair, I decided to go ahead and write chapter two which was supposed to be them going through various sources and Nero trying to get used to Dante's new skin. I originally was saving Mrs. Jones showing up around chapter three or so, but decided to go ahead and start their first adventure as Teen Devil Hunters. I really hope this chapter came out alright, I haven't proofread it and don't really feel like it. And, of course, I love everyone for feedback :)


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